Archive for May 31st, 2006

On the other hand…

31 May 2006
Four
former Campbell deputies sentenced to prison for suspect abuse
Four former Campbell County Sheriff’s Deputies were sentenced
to prison Wednesday.
Five deputies pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the abuse of Lester Siler in June of
2004. The deputies went to Siler’s Campbell County home because they suspected drug
activity.

Their assault of the suspect led to their firings and charges against them. They were
accused of violating Siler’s constitutional rights.
Siler’s wife secretly taped the deputies while they were in the Siler home.

In one excerpt of the tape, Deputy David Webber is heard saying to Siler:
“Let me tell you something. We’re gonna know everybody that’s supplying you. We’re
gonna know everything about your business today. And you’re gonna take us and where
you got your money, we’re gonna take every dime you have today, and if we don’t walk
out of here with every piece of dope you got and every dime you got your (expletive)
(expletive) is not going to make it to jail. And if you think we’re joking, we’re
not.”
Before sentencing on Wednesday, the deputies’ attorneys painted a very different picture
of the men facing the judge.
“Sammy has a history of good deeds, not only in the community but nationally. He served
in the military for years, he served on the Campbell County Sheriff’s Department for
17 years. He truly has never had a single complaint filed against him,” said former
Deputy Samuel Franklin’s attorney, Andrew Roskind.
Friends and family accompanied the men to the Howard Baker Federal Courthouse for
their sentencing, and the deputies had hundreds of letters of support from family,
friends and community members.
The judge took this all into consideration, but
David Webber was sentenced to 57 months in jail; Samuel Franklin and Shayne Green
received sentences of four and a-half years each, while William Carroll will spend
four years and three months behind bars.
That is too much time, according to family members.
“I can’t describe it, it seems unfair, he did wrong, but it just don’t seem right,”
said Shayne Green’s brother, Gary Green.
But Lester Siler’s family says they are satisfied.
“Mr. Siler and his family respect the judgment that was handed down by the court today,
and they look forward to moving on with their lives,” said Siler’s attorney, Kristie
Anderson.
On Tuesday, another of the five deputies, Joshua Monday, received a sentence of six
years.
Herryn Riendeau , Reporter

Katie Allison Granju , Producer

if
you want to listen to 40 minutes of torture, feel free. Transcript
here.

Posted in Trust the police | No Comments »

I think the ATFE may have been onto something

31 May 2006


Officials
say man killed while making bomb


By BARBARA
RAMIREZ

Tuesda05-y,-30, 2006

A Longview man died Monday night while making a bomb he intended to use in retaliation
against federal agents, said local fire officials.

James Charles Torrence, 38, who faced possible jail time for multiple federal indictments
from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Drug Enforcement Administration,
died in his North Longview home while putting together one of two homemade bombs.


Fire officials believe Torrence made the bombs to retaliate against authorities with
the ATF and the DEA, whom Torrence believed had built a case against him, according
to Brian Howell, Longview Fire Department’s assistant fire marshal. Documents inside
the home listed names of several ATF and DEA agents, Howell said.

The Longview Fire Department responded to Torrence’s home in the 200 block of Rowe
Avenue shortly before 8:30 p.m. The home is about one mile south of Judson Middle
School.

Fire officials determined a bomb had exploded inside the home, and agents with the
ATF were called, Howell said.

Inside, they found a substance that could be methamphetamine and illegal weapons,
including a machine gun and a pistol with a silencer. A second pipe bomb also was
found.

Howell said Torrence had turned one of the home’s three bedrooms into an office and
used the office to build the bombs.

While putting the second pipe bomb together, the bomb exploded, instantly killing
Torrence, Howell said.

Fire officials took the second bomb to a field behind the home and set it off, Howell
added. Neighbors within a 300 foot radius of Torrence’s home were ordered to evacuate
their homes, Howell said.

Torrence’s girlfriend was inside the home but was not injured.

“This could’ve been a lot worse,” Howell said.

It couldn’t have been much better, though.

 

Posted in Some People's Children | No Comments »